Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria celebrates a service on board of cruiser "Varyag"

18. November 2013 - 10:57

On November 14, His Beatitude Theodore (Theodoros) II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, on invitation of Captain first Rank Alexander V. Potapov arrived on board of the flagship of the Russian Pacific fleet—the guard missile cruiser "Varyag" (Varangian) which is currently located by the shores of Egypt, reports Patriarchia.ru.

The head of the Orthodox Church of Alexandria was given a solemn reception, at which Sergei Petlyakov, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Alexandria, was also present.

His Beatitude then performed a service of blessing of the waters and delivered a speech, wishing the crew members every success in their service, in order to maintain peace and security in the region.

Patriarch Theodore had already visited a Pacific fleet ship. On February 17, 2013, on his name day, the head of the Orthodox Church of Alexandria stayed on board the large anti-submarine ship, "Marshal Shaposhnikov", which was then in the port of Tanzania.